title: Nonlinear compression of Q-switched laser pulses to the realm of ultrashort durations.
abstract: Mode-locked lasers have an undisputed position in the ultrafast domain, though they are fairly expensive for miscellaneous applications. Thus, laser consumers revert to more cost-effective systems like Q-switched lasers. Here we report on the nonlinear compression of passively Q-switched laser pulses that allows accessing the time domain of sub-10-picoseconds, which has been so far the realm of mode-locked lasers. Laser pulses with an initial duration of 100 ps from a passively Q-switched microchip laser are amplified in a photonic crystal fiber and spectrally broadened from 20 pm to 0.68 nm by self-phase modulation. These pulses are compressed in a grating compressor to a duration of 6 ps with a pulse energy of 13 µJ.
authors.affiliation: Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Institute of Applied Physics, Albert-Einstein-Str. 15, 07745 Jena, Germany. alexander.steinmetz@uni-jena.de
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Steinmetz
authors.forename: Tino
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Eidam
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Nodop
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Limpert
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tünnermann